Trio charged in Monticello corruption silent

MONTICELLO — Village Trustee T.C. Hutchins and former Village Manager John LiGreci remained silent during and after a brief court appearance Wednesday in the felony corruption case against them.

Victor Whitman

MONTICELLO — Village Trustee T.C. Hutchins and former Village Manager John LiGreci remained silent during and after a brief court appearance Wednesday in the felony corruption case against them.

LiGreci and Hutchins are accused of attempting to rig a Civil Service process to hire Monticello resident Kariem McCline, Hutchins' friend, as a police officer, and also threatening former police Chief Doug Solomon and later, then-acting chief, Mark Johnstone, during the hiring process and to thwart a criminal investigation.

McCline has been accused of lying during a background investigation about drug and burglary arrests adjudicated as a youthful offender and also lying to Sullivan County Court Judge Frank LaBuda in 2009 to obtain a pistol permit.

LiGreci is further accused of hiring a New York psychiatrist — at $400 an hour — to do a third evaluation of McCline, who failed other psychological tests that would have normally disqualified him. The indictment says LiGreci did not seek Village Board approval for the $2,700 expenditure, and then tried to hide the payments in two police line items in the village budget. He is also accused of giving McCline confidential records that were part of Sullivan County District Attorney Jim Farrell's criminal investigation. The three men were arraigned on Friday. All have posted bail and declined to speak about the case.

LaBuda has temporarily assigned Legal Aid lawyers for the three men. Farrell told LaBuda he's skeptical that Hutchins qualifies for legal aid. Hutchins has a full-time job as a youth counselor for the state's Office of Children and Family Services at the Goshen Secure Center, a juvenile detention facility. An OCFS spokeswoman said Hutchins was placed on administrative leave with pay. According to the website seethroughny.net, Hutchins made $85,000 in 2011. If Hutchins qualifies for legal aid, the county will be billed directly for his defense.

LiGreci, a former Lumberland supervisor, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2012, claiming debts of $294,241. He was fired by the village in October. McCline ran his own cleaning business in Monticello.

LaBuda ordered the men to appear next on Jan. 15. Farrell said that Hutchins and McCline willingly testified before a grand jury, while LiGreci declined to appear.